SB 930 — AN ACT CONCERNING FOOD WASTE DIVERSION AND ANAEROBIC DIGESTION FACILITIES.

(3) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, the receipt of not more than seventy-five tons per day of containerized food scrap, food processing residuals and soiled or unrecyclable paper and the storage of not more than one hundred fifty cubic yards of containerized food scrap, food processing residuals and soiled or unrecyclable paper at a facility permitted under this subsection shall not require a modification to any permit issued pursuant to this section.

The receipt of such food scraps, food processing residuals and soiled or unrecyclable paper shall occur within a fully enclosed building, and such scraps, materials and paper shall remain containerized, except while being transferred, and shall be managed to control odor, leachate and attraction of vectors.

The owner or operator of any such facility shall, not later than thirty days after adding such items for receipt by such facility, submit a written notification to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection describing such addition.

3 from passage New section StatementSec. of Purpose:

To4 encourageOctober the1, development2021 of22a-208a(d) additionalENV anaerobicJoint digestionFavorable andSubst. composting facilities in the state that are available to divert food waste from the state's solid waste stream.

[ProposedsSB930 deletions/ areFile enclosedNo. in brackets.

Proposed557 additions6 aresSB930 indicatedFile by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.

3293557 4The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of 4the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

See Below Explanation This bill alters various laws concerning organics composting and food waste.

Section 1 expands current law requiring certain organic material generators to separate the materials from other solid waste and recycle them at composting facilities.

This has no fiscal impact to the state or municipalities as it applies to private, third-parties.

Section 2 requires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to establish a voluntary pilot program for municipalities seeking to separate organic materials and ensure that the materials are recycled at authorized composting facilities under certain circumstances.

This may result in a minimal savings to those municipalities who choose to implement the pilot program, associated with a reduced volume of municipal solid waste (MSW) subject to tip fees.

Any savings would depend on the current tip fee and the volume of MSW reduced by the organics composting program.

Section 3 reauthorizes DEEP to adopt regulations on specifications for compost from source-separated organic materials and mixed MSW and Section 4 exempts, under certain circumstances, permitted solid waste facilities from modifying their permits, also under certain sSB930 / File No.

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557 circumstances.

These sections have no fiscal impact as DEEP currently has staff with expertise for these purposes.

The Out Years State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None sSB930 / File No.

557 8 sSB930 File No.

557 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 930 AN ACT CONCERNING FOOD WASTE DIVERSION AND ANAEROBIC DIGESTION FACILITIES.

SUMMARY This bill does the following with respect to organic material composting and food waste:

1.

broadens the scope of the law requiring certain organic material generators to separate the materials from other solid waste and recycle them at composting facilities (§ 1);

2.

requires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner, by January 1, 2022, to (a) establish a voluntary pilot program for municipalities seeking to separate source-separated organic materials and (b) ensure that the materials are recycled at authorized composting facilities with capacity and that will accept them (see BACKGROUND) (§ 1);

3.

requires the DEEP commissioner to (a) participate in a reach out and education effort to municipalities, commercial entities, and school systems about using certain composting facilities and (b) report to the Environment Committee on its efforts (§ 2);

4.

reauthorizes the DEEP commissioner to adopt regulations on specifications for compost from source-separated organic materials and mixed municipal solid waste (PA 17-218 repealed a similar provision) (§ 3);

and 5.

exempts, under certain circumstances, permitted solid waste facilities from needing to modify their permit in order to start receiving or storing acertain amount of containerized foodscrap, sSB930 / File No.

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557 food processing residuals, and soiled or unrecycled paper (§ 4).

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2021, except the provisions on DEEP’s reach out and education efforts and compost regulations are effective upon passage.

§ 1 — SOURCE-SEPARATED ORGANIC MATERIALS The bill broadens the scope of the law requiring certain organic materials generators to separate the materials and recycle them at composting facilities by applying the law’s requirements to smaller generators.

Under current law, commercial food wholesalers or distributors, industrial food manufacturers or processors, supermarkets, resorts, or conference centers generating an annual average projected volume of at least 52 tons of source-separated organic materials must (1) separate the materials from other solid waste and (2) recycle them at a permitted source-separated organic material composting facility located within 20 miles of the generation site that has available capacity and is willing to accept them.

Beginning January 1, 2022, the bill applies these requirements to generators (1) generating an annual average projected volume of at least tons of source-separated organic materials a year and (2) located within 20 miles of an authorized source-separated organic material composting facility.

Consequently, the bill likely increases the number of facilities that must comply with this requirement.

Bylaw,generatorsmaycomplywiththerequirementsbycomposting the organic materials or treating it with certain organic treatment equipment on-site.

§ 2 — DEEP REACH OUT AND EDUCATION CAMPAIGN The bill requires the DEEP commissioner to participate in a reach out and education campaign on using certain composting facilities to divert food waste from the waste stream.

sSB930 / File No.

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557 Under the bill, the commissioner must engage with municipalities about (1) their ability to establish an aerated static pile composting facility to divert food waste from the municipal solid waste stream, including the permit application and procedures involved, and (2) the potential fiscal and environmental benefits of the composting facility.

Aerated static pile composting generally involves organic waste mixed ina large pile withlayersofcertainloosely piledmaterialssuch as wood chips or shredded newspaper to allow air to pass through the pile.

The bill requires the commissioner to also engage with commercial entities and school systems about how they can divert source-separated organic materials to authorized composting facilities specifically designed to accept them.

The bill also requires the DEEP commissioner, by February 1, 2022, to report to the Environment Committee on its efforts, including (1) responses from municipalities, entities, and school systems and (2) municipalities’ efforts to establish composting facilities resulting from DEEP’s reaching out.

§ 3 — COMPOST REGULATIONS The bill allows the DEEP commissioner to adopt regulations providing specifications for the production, quality, and use of compost made from source-separated organic materials and mixed municipal solid waste.

These regulations must be made in consultation with the agriculture commissioner, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, UConn extension service, and the Department of Public Health.

Under the bill, these regulations must have provisions that do the following:

1.

promote composting processes;

2.

provide clean, high-quality, nontoxic, and marketable end- product;

3.

protect land and water resources from contaminants;

sSB930 / File No.

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557 4.

prevent adverse environmental and public health effects from composting operations or applying its product;

5.

set maximum allowable levels of toxic and other contaminants in the composting product;

6.

include contaminant testing criteria;

7.

have at least two classes of compost, with a (a) Class I made from only compostable source-separated organic materials such as food waste, grass clippings, and yard waste and (b) Class II made from mixed municipal solid waste with compostable organic materials that were not separated at generation;

8.

set maximum allowable contaminant levels for Class I compost that will allow for its unrestricted use;

and 9.

ban using Class II compost for agricultural or horticultural purposes unless it meets the maximum allowable contaminant levels for Class I compost, as determined by the regulations’ testing criteria.

§ 4 — SOLID WASTE FACILITY PERMITS Current law generally prohibits anyone with a solid waste facility permit from altering the facility’s design or operation without obtaining a permit modification from DEEP.

The bill exempts a facility from this requirement if it is adding the following to its operation:

1.

receiving up to 75 tons per day of containerized food scrap, food processing residuals, and soiled or unrecycled paper or 2.

storing up to 150 cubic yards of this containerized material.

To qualify for the bill’s exemption, receiving these scraps, residuals, and paper must (1) occur in a fully enclosed building;

(2) stay containerized, except when being transferred;

and (3) be managed to sSB930 / File No.

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557 control odor, leachate, and vector (e.g., insects or rodents) attraction.

The bill requires a facility’s owner or operator to, within 30 days after adding these items for receipt, provide written notice to the DEEP commissioner about it.

BACKGROUND Organic Material and Composting Facilities By law, “source-separated organic material” includes such things as food scraps, food processing residue, and soiled or unrecyclable paper that are separated, at generation, from nonorganic material (CGS § 22a- 207(30)).

A “composting facility” is land, appurtenances, structures, or equipment where organic materials originating from another process or location and separated at generation from nonorganic material are recovered through accelerated biological decomposition under controlled aerobic or anaerobic conditions (CGS § 22a-207(29)).

COMMITTEE ACTION Environment Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 32 Nay 0 (03/31/2021) sSB930 / File No.

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